Racing knock out Saracens at the death

Juan Imhoff scored a 77th-minute try to have Racing 92 beat Saracens 19-15 in the first Champions Cup semi-final on Saturday.

In a tough encounter defending champions Saracens opened up a six-point lead thanks to five penalties from ever-reliable flyhalf Alex Goode.

Up until that point, it was the Saracens pack that had done the job for them, while their defence was once again very assured as they contained Racing’s major attacking threats in flyhalf Finn Russell and centre Virimi Vakatawa.

However, with three minutes to go, Scotland flyhalf Russell produced a moment of magic as he pulled off a stunning chip kick over the defensive line to release Vakatawa. The skilled midfielder then broke away before passing on his inside to Juan Imhoff, who was left with a simple finish for the decisive try.

Racing 92 –  Try: Juan Imhoff. Conversion: Maxime Machenaud. Penalties: Teddy Iribaren (3), Machenaud.
Saracens – Penalties: Alex Goode (5).

Racing 92 – 15 Simon Zebo, 14 Teddy Thomas, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Olivier Klemenczak, 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Teddy Iribaren (c), 8 Antonie Claassen, 7 Fabien Sanconnie, 6 Wenceslas Lauret, 5 Dominic Bird, 4 Donnacha Ryan, 3 Georges Henri Colombe, 2 Camille Chat, 1 Eddy Ben Arous.
Subs: 16 Teddy Baubigny, 17 Hassane Kolingar, 18 Ali Oz, 19 Boris Palu, 20 Baptiste Chouzenoux, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Antoine Gibert, 23 Francois Trinh-Duc.

Saracens – 15 Elliot Daly, 14 Alex Lewington, 13 Duncan Taylor, 12 Brad Barritt, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Alex Goode, 9 Richard Wigglesworth, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Jackson Wray, 6 Mike Rhodes, 5 Tim Swinson, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola.
Subs: 16 Tom Woolstencroft, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Callum Hunter-Hill, 20 Calum Clark, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Manu Vunipola, 23 Dom Morris.

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